


A Serpent

by WriteEditLife



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M, Hurt/Comfort, southside serpents
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-16
Updated: 2017-08-16
Packaged: 2018-12-16 06:24:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,474
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11823051
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WriteEditLife/pseuds/WriteEditLife
Summary: Jughead's thoughts during Archie's arrival at Polly's baby shower in 1x08.





	A Serpent

Jughead stood silently next to the food table, a birds’ eye view of the Cooper vs. Blossom niceness that was unfolding in front of him, disguised as Polly Cooper’s baby shower. He was the only guy in Veronica’s chic apartment, and he had been here for hours helping Betty set up. He stood quietly in the background in his black pants and red shirt, beanie securely on his head asking as a much-needed security blanket among all the powerful women of Riverdale. Then everyone had arrived, everyone made nice, and presents were opened. That’s where the real trouble started.

This was supposed to be about Polly and her baby. Betty had been very clear that she wanted Polly to be surrounded by family, and Polly had insisted on both Coopers and Blossoms, so Betty was doing her best to please her and everyone. The focus was of course on Polly, glowing with happiness at the attention and the support she was finally feeling from her friends and family, after her isolation with the Sisters of Quiet Mercy. But Jughead was watching his beautiful Betty. She was seated between Polly and her mother, almost directly in his line of sight, helping Polly choose and open the baby gifts.

Betty was emitting charm and love for her sister, her bubbly personality evident in her upbeat tone of voice. Both sisters were on the verge of tears of nostalgia due to Alice Cooper presenting Polly with her childhood nightlight, and even Jughead could appreciate the bonds Alice was trying to form with Polly, desperate to mend a shattered bridge with her estranged daughter.

The whole atmosphere of the event changed just a few moments later however, when Archie unexpectedly arrived at the apartment. Everyone, including Jughead, glanced his way, him giving an equal look of surprise at their presence as they were by his. He looked around and quickly made his way over to Jughead.

This can’t be good, Jughead thought.

“You were protecting him. That’s why you didn’t tell me,” Archie practically demanded in a harsh whisper.

“Relax. What happened?” Jughead replied with an exasperated tone. He watched both Betty and Veronica walk up behind Archie, who quickly turned towards them.

“Did you know Jughead’s father is a serpent?” he exclaimed, looking towards both girls again and back at Jughead quickly.

Jughead froze instantly, his eyes wide in terror, flew to Betty’s green orbs, the shock and confusion evident. Not like this. Betty Cooper, his Betts, could not find out his father like this. The moment had finally come. The other shoe had dropped. The truth was out thanks to Archie.

“No,” Betty replied in a slight gasp, still maintaining eye contact with him, looking into his soul for the truth. Jughead immediately felt his throat constrict and his heart begin to crack under her withering stare, and he frantically glanced to the floor. He silently prayed this wasn’t the end for them. For what he had dreamed of for so long, and achieved. He couldn’t lose that.

_He couldn’t lose her._

_He would lose himself._

Deep down he knew she would wait for an explanation, her unrelenting honesty and support of the truth trumping any anger or hurt she might have. He hated himself for putting those emotions on her, especially with all the Polly related stress she was already dealing with. He wanted to ease the pain and stress, not increase it.

But he had also heard her back at the booth at Pop’s. Her own sister had called the serpents drug dealers, and as happy as they were as a couple, Jughead didn’t outrank Polly, Betty’s own blood, in terms of importance. He had to explain himself, be vulnerable in front of her, which is already enough of a struggle without talking about his father. But this was Polly’s day, and while the only thing he wanted to do in this moment was bring that bright smile back to his beautiful, newly minted girlfriends’ face, he knew it had to wait.

Jughead tried to regroup his thoughts, trying to swallow the lump in his throat and ease the tightness through his chest, which normally dissipated just being near Betty. He forced himself to breathe. Jughead looked to Archie, who had continued his anger filled rant about FP while Jughead tried to bring himself back to center.

“That’s why he tried to stop me from going to the bar, so I wouldn’t find out,” Archie revealed in a rush. The realization of why Jughead refused to go with him earlier suddenly clear, but the anger towards him was still clearly present, albeit for a totally different reason. Archie continued with a raised voice, “After everything my dad has done for you.”

“Archie…” Jughead quietly interrupted with a slight quiver in his voice. “I can explain, okay?” Jughead continued, willing himself to fix Archie with a meaningful glare. He was desperate to calm down his oldest friend and practical blood brother. He didn’t want to lose that relationship either. All the same, Jughead could see Betty’s blonde hair out of the corner of his eye, not in its signature ponytail for once. She looked stunning, an almost ethereal glow coming from her, even when she was also fixing Archie with an inquisitive stare.

At least they were united in this moment, he thought, understanding the need to deal with Archie to get the focus back on Polly.

“Not right now,” Veronica butted in, “This is Polly’s day okay? So, you two need to check yourselves. I mean it.” Veronica gestured between him and Archie, looking both in the eye and making sure they both heard and understand her meaning. This conversation was definitely over for now.

“Archie,” Jughead whispered one more time, willing his best friend to leave this alone for the moment.

“Save it,” Archie quipped back, shaking his head slightly, almost in disbelief at Jughead. The redhead shot him one last look of betrayal, before Veronica ushered him out of the apartment, the conversation clearly to be continued. As Jughead watched Archie go, he prayed he hadn’t just lost a friend and his place to sleep.

Jughead once again made eye contact with his beautiful girlfriend Betty, their eyes drawn to each other’s, their souls communicating their heightened feeling about the current situation. With a sheepish expression on his face, eyes almost narrowed and pleading with her for silent and immediate forgiveness.

The sadness he saw hidden behind her eyes almost broke him, a mix between “why didn’t you tell me?” and “we will discuss this later.” In that brief moment, Betty definitely proved she was Alice Cooper’s daughter. At the same time, there was a reassurance. Understand, even. Betty’s eyes were clear, almost as if she had reached out and grabbed his hand, grounding them both in that moment, proving they were okay and the stress of everything would fall away and calm them both. Her eyes were filled with light surprise as well, but he was just thankful he saw no shame or disappointment.

They would be okay, he reasoned in his mind. When, not if, she asked later, Jughead would just say he wanted to preserve her journalistic integrity and not bias any writing she would do about the serpents or Jason Blossom’s murder. Then again, Jughead could never lie to Betty or her gorgeous green eyes. Always better to go with the truth.

With a deep sigh, he watched in almost slow motion as Betty turned back towards the baby shower, joining her mother and Polly, while his heart beat loudly in his ears, fear creeping through his veins as she put more distance between them.

He continued to blend into the background of Veronica’s apartment for the rest of the party. He was used to disappearing, good at making himself invisible or scarce, but right now it was the absolute last thing he wanted. Jughead never felt more terrified in that moment in Betty’s presence than ever before and he never wanted to feel that way again.

Jughead felt way out his depth here. The feeling of having someone to count on, someone to really be in his corner was completely foreign to him. All he knew for sure was that he wanted – no, he needed Betty to be that person. With her positive nature and justice seeking heart, they were like two sides of the same coin, perfect equals navigating the turbulent waters of Riverdale with different sets of tools. They could get through this together.

After the shower, they would talk. That would also give him plenty of time to think about what to say. As a writer, Jughead was usually good with words, but not right now. Riverdale’s own Holden Caulfield was at a complete and total loss. He prayed that loss wouldn’t include Betty.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments are appreciated.


End file.
